TwentyFour Hours
by Jo. R
Summary: Twenty-four hours to do what they want. No rules, no restrictions, no regrets? Abby/Gibbs.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Twenty-Four Hours  
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)  
Rating: FR-18  
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs  
Category: Romance, Smut  
Spoilers: None  
Summary: They made a deal: 24 hours, no rules or restrictions. Will 24 hours be enough to get each other out of their system or are they taking a bigger leap than they thought?

* * *

It started off as a normal Friday night. Abby Sciuto decided to work a little overtime, knowing the backlog of evidence to be catalogued from their last case would prey on her mind over the weekend if she didn't get it done. So she turned her music up extra loud, broke out the secret supply of Caf-Pow she kept in the cooler in her office and metaphorically rolled her sleeves up, letting the task at hand distract her from the real world once more.

Because of that, because of her determination to get it all done, it took her a little longer than normal to realise she was no longer alone.

* * *

He'd slipped into the lab unnoticed and wondered, briefly, how long he could keep it that way. Sitting on a discarded stool near the corner of her lab, Leroy Jethro Gibbs watched his forensic specialist, opening admiring the smooth fluidity of her movements as she danced around her lab since there was no one else there to see.

It was his admiration of her that was the problem, Gibbs mused. Well, not the admiration as much as the attraction.

It was mutual; they both felt it and acknowledged it but neither had chosen to act on it. He'd gone so long thinking maybe he'd imagined the look in her eye or the flirtatious tone of her voice but he was sure now that he hadn't and that certainty was what was slowly driving him to distraction.

He couldn't focus on the job at hand fully anymore; neither could she.

That much had been obvious in MTAC earlier on when the NCIS LA team had called to debrief the Director on a case they'd been working on and asked for Abby's expert opinion. They'd been standing side by side, doing a good job of making it look like they were listening intently to what was being said. But they'd been moving closer the whole time though neither had been conscious of it. It was only when Director Vance had taken him aside later and made a sharp comment about the pair of them 'needing a room' that Gibbs realised something must've been said that they'd missed.

Gibbs stifled a sigh and took a step forward into the room. He cleared his throat when Abby remained oblivious to his presence, telling himself he was doing the right thing, that his suggestion was the only way they could continue working together.

"Gibbs, hey!" Her face brightened when she turned to find him watching her, her green eyes lighting up in a way he'd come to realise only happened when he was in the room. "What are you doing here so late?"

He ran a hand through his hair, watching her as she noticed the tension in his stance, her own smile fading under the heavy weight of his gaze. "We have a problem, Abs."

* * *

One and a half drinks later at the bar around the corner from the Navy Yard and his proposition was starting to make a little bit of sense to her.

Twenty-four hours to do what they wanted, no rules, no restrictions. Twenty-four hours to try and get all of their wants and needs out of their system so they could go back to the status quo and get on with their jobs as though nothing had happened.

It sounded so easy, the perfect solution. She just wasn't so sure that it would work.

"You're really suggesting this." It was a statement, not a question, as Abby toyed with her wine glass, staring down into the clear liquid as she twirled the stem of the glass in her hands. "You haven't been drinking, you haven't experienced a hard blow to the head that I can see..." She tilted her head to the side, studying him intently. "What changed?" She wondered aloud. "You were quite happy living in denial. I mean, I thought I'd been imaging it all, that there was a snowball's chance in hell you could feel the same way I do but you're really suggesting this. Really."

Gibbs swirled the amber alcohol in his glass for a moment before downing the remainder of its contents. "And I'm starting to regret it, Abs."

"You're not taking it back." Her hand shot out to grab his arm as though she expected him to leave her sitting at the bar alone. "No way can you make me an offer like that and take it back." She lifted her glass to her lips, taking a measured sip from it before setting it down on the table with a decisive air. "Twenty-four hours starting from when?"

"From whenever we make it back to my place," he responded, his voice low and husky. "If you're sure it's what you want to do. There's no pressure, Abby. You don't have to..."

She leaned across and silenced him with a gentle kiss, her eyes open and locked with his the whole time. "That wasn't to start the countdown," she murmured, drawing away with a small smile and faintly flushed cheeks. "That was to show you I'm in, no pressure, no regrets. On the condition that whatever happens between us isn't allowed to affect our friendship. You're too important to me to lose."

"As are you." He caught her hand before she could withdraw it and lifted it to his lips. "You okay leaving your car at the Navy Yard this weekend?"

"I don't think I'll want to waste time fetching it tomorrow morning if that's what you mean." Her smile was full of innuendo, the quirk of her eyebrow causing his stomach to flip. "Let's go home. Twenty-four hours doesn't seem like anywhere near long enough so I'm not willing to waste a single second."

He ushered her out of the bar with a hand to the small of her back, ignoring the smirk from the bartender who'd been watching them with undisguised interest just out of earshot.

Twenty-four hours and counting.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hugs and thanks to all for the reviews and kind comments x_

* * *

The door was, for once, locked securely behind them. Gibbs leaned against it, watching her as she shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the banister.

He waited for the awkwardness to set in, for an embarrassing, uncomfortable pause.

It didn't happen.

Abby turned back to face him, a pretty pink colour in her cheeks, her green eyes luminous and her richly painted red lips curved upwards in an almost shy smile.

"Twenty-four hours starts now," she murmured, glancing down at the watch on her wrist. "You going to stand there and stare at me all night because, I've gotta tell you, Gibbs, that's not what I had in mind."

"Really?" Conscious of time ticking away, knowing he only had until 11.15pm on Saturday night, Gibbs took a slow step forward, holding her gaze the entire time. He grasped the hand she held out to him and used it to pull her closer, winding his arms around her waist. It felt natural, right, to be holding her so close, so intimately. "What were you thinking?" He asked quietly.

"If I need to tell you, we may have a problem." She wound her own arms around his neck, her fingernails lightly grazing his nape. Tilting her face, her lips brushed against his lightly, almost timidly, before she drew back. "Getting any ideas...?"

The grin that curled his lips was immediate. "One or two."

He kissed her before she could question those ideas, thankfully, mercifully putting all conversation on hold. His hands moved up to tangle themselves in her hair, holding her steady as his tongue swept over her lips, between them, his mouth moving against hers without hesitation, taking what he wanted.

When he pulled away, her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen and her eyes were dazed. Gibbs looked at her, feeling an almost smug satisfaction at her reaction to him. He freed his hands from her hair, dropping them to her shoulders, massaging the tense muscles there for a moment before running his fingers down her arms, tangling them with her own.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked her quietly, his eyes searching hers for a glimmer of doubt, any hint of hesitation. "It's not too late..."

Abby rose on her toes, silencing him with a shorter, sweeter kiss of her own. "It was too late for me the minute you walked into my lab."

Whether she was speaking about the moment she turned and found him in her lab not more than a few hours ago or the first time he ever did so on her first day at the then-Director's beckoning, Gibbs wasn't sure.

Neither was she.

Squeezing her fingers, he dropped one hand only to lead her by the other up the stairs and into his room.

* * *

He drew her against him as the door to his room closed behind them and she went willingly, returning the kiss he gave with all of the longing and lust she'd been holding back.

Her fingers trailed down his chest through his shirt before rising to push the top button from its hole, repeating the gesture until his shirt hung open underneath his jacket. She ran her hands over his chest, fingertips lightly tracing the scars they came across. She circled his nipples with her fingernails, smiling when he pulled away from their kiss to catch his breath when one hand dropped lower.

She held his gaze as she caressed him through the thin material of his pants, up until he closed his eyes and let out a soft groan. Her hand undid the button and fly of his pants but he stopped her before it could slip inside to touch him, skin on skin.

"You don't get to have all of the fun, Abby." He backed her slowly towards the bed, grinning when her legs hit the mattress. He leaned down to wrap an arm around her waist, the other behind her knees. He lifted her, kissed her softly, and then dropped her on the centre of the bed.

Leaving his undone pants on, he shrugged out of his shirt and suit jacket before lowering himself down on top of her, pressing a kiss to the skin of her neck above the collar of her shirt. Covering her body completely, supporting his weight with his hands and knees, he trailed a line of kisses from her neck, along the slender line of her throat before his mouth covered hers, his kiss hard and demanding.

Pulling away after a short while, Gibbs grinned at the sight of her flushed cheeks and unfocused eyes, thinking to himself that it was a good look for her. He sat up, straddling her hips, and got to work on unbuttoning her shirt.

She lay perfectly still, her hair fanning out across his pillows. She watched him intently, her breath catching in her throat when he lifted her gently to strip her of the shirt, her heated skin reacting as it was bared to the cool air. She lowered her gaze as he studied her, feeling suddenly shy. When his hands moved to trace the black lace trim of her bra, his fingertips trailing over the tops of her breasts, Abby held her breath, biting her lip as he moved his hand to the clasp at the front.

He was gentle as he removed the offending material, his eyes fixed on her as though he didn't want to miss a thing. Only when she was bared to his gaze and he'd taken his fill did he look up, using a finger beneath her chin to tilt her face upwards, forcing her to look at him.

He leaned down until his lips were a hairsbreadth away from hers. "You're beautiful, Abby," he murmured, kissing her gently as if in confirmation. "You're absolutely beautiful." He tore his mouth from hers to kiss his way down her throat, over her breast bone.

He cupped her breasts in his hands, fingers moulding themselves around her, touching, exploring. His thumbs circled her nipples, rolled them into stiffened peaks. His mouth reached one breast and he took his time in tasting her, licking and sucking until she cried out and writhed beneath him, her body arching instinctively into his. Grinning against her flesh, he transferred his attention to the other breast, repeating the gentle torture, stopping only when her hands tangled in his hair and drew his head back up to hers for a hot, open-mouthed kiss.

Her hands moved to his hips as he gave in to her demands to kiss her harder, both attempting to take control of the kiss. She pushed his pants down, nimble fingers sliding his boxer shorts down with them, lifting her legs to finish the job with her feet.

Gibbs smiled against her mouth, his arms sliding around her to clutch her to him before he rolled them over, settling on his back against the mattress. Still kissing her, he ran his hands over her bare back, his fingers drawing circles over her skin before they encountered the barrier of her clothes. Running over the waistband of her skirt, he quickly located the zipper at the back and deftly lowered it.

It was Abby's turn to sit up, straddling his waist. She smiled down at him, her nerves vanishing as she looked into his eyes and saw the man she'd known and loved from afar for over ten years. She felt his hands at her hips, pushing at the remaining barriers between their bodies and pushed herself up so he could help her remove them.

She leaned down to kiss him, drawing him up with her when she straightened. Gibbs shuffled back to rest against the headboard, his hands on her hips as she followed. His hands moved to the small of her back as she leaned in to kiss him again, her hips rocking teasingly against his.

She broke away, resting her forehead against his as she breathed in deeply. She shifted her hips until she could feel him, hot and hard against her. Tilting her head, she met his gaze and held it as she lowered herself onto him, taking him inside her with a soft sigh.

He ran his hands up her legs, dropping his head to her shoulder. He bit her shoulder gently before lathing it with his tongue, kissing his way to the cobweb tattoo on her neck as she began to rock against him again. He kissed along the thin black lines, kissed his way up her neck to her lips.

He arched his hips up as she pressed hers down and they rocked together in earnest. He slid a hand between them, finding her clit and pressing down hard, loving the sound she made when he did. He kissed her hungrily, their actions becoming more and more desperate, more urgent. His heels dug into the mattress as she ground her hips against him, her eyes closed in an expression of pained pleasure he knew would stay with him for a long time to come.

He felt her body quiver, felt her muscles begin to tighten around him and moved his thumb over her clit once more, and again, pushing up into her, their bodies slick with sweat.

She arched against him suddenly, her body tensing. She murmured his name as her orgasm struck, a whisper of a Southern drawl creeping into her voice. The feel of her body contracting around him brought on his own climax and he muffled his low groan against her shoulder.

For several moments, the room was silent but for the sound of their heavy breathing as they slowly regained their senses.

Gibbs reacted first, lifting a hand to stroke her damp hair back from her face. He trailed his fingers over her cheek before cupping her face, holding her steady as he leaned in to kiss her sweetly.

They exchanged sleepy, satisfied smiles before Abby moved off him, curling up against his side as he pulled the blankets out from under them and dragged them up over their cooling bodies.

Reluctant to sleep and waste a single second of their time together, Gibbs watched her as she dozed lightly beside him, committing everything about her to memory.


	3. Chapter 3

_I was going to be a little bit evil and split this into two parts... but decided I'd be a nice person because Chirugal and NCIS_love were so very lovely to me this week :)_

* * *

She dozed for just over an hour, her eyes opening when she reached for him only to encounter an empty bed. Abby sat up, clutching the sheets to her chest. She glanced at the illuminated screen of the clock, unable to keep a wistful sigh from escaping her at the time.

01:47am.

She wanted to freeze time or experience some sort of Groundhog Day like the movie she'd watched with Tony, something that would allow her to live the same twenty-four hours again and again and again. She was more certain than ever that twenty-four hours with Gibbs wouldn't be enough; she wasn't even sure a lifetime with him would satisfy her completely.

She wondered briefly where Gibbs was but didn't have to wonder for long; within five minutes of her waking up, he reappeared, two cups in hand. She arched an eyebrow as the scent of caffeine drifted towards her, accepting one of the cups with a smile as he settled on the bed beside her.

She blew on the hot liquid before taking a small sip, eyes brightening at the cream and sugar he'd added to hers. "I'll try not to fall asleep on you again."

"I didn't mind." He surprised her by leaning across to steal a soft kiss from her before she could take another sip. With a satisfied smile, he drew back and took a sip from his own coffee. "It's not something I get to see every day."

Nor would be it be something he would get to see again, Abby thought with a twinge of sadness.

She drank her coffee as quickly as she could, not willing to waste precious moments that could be spent taking her fill of the man beside her. She set her cup down and took his from his hands, holding his gaze as she reached across him to set it down on the cabinet on his side of the bed.

She smiled when his hands kept her from moving to sit beside him again, letting her own rest on his shoulders as he rolled them, pinning her with his weight. She opened her mouth to his questing tongue, her eyes sliding closed despite her attempts at keeping them open so she could watch him.

His hips pressed into hers and she felt his erection growing through the thin barrier of his boxers and the sheets still tangled around her body. She let one hand wander down his back, trailing her fingernails along his spine, grinning against his mouth when he shuddered against her. She pushed at his underwear, at the sheets between them, opening her eyes when he shifted back slightly to aid her actions before lying more fully against her once the material had been pushed away.

He pulled his mouth from hers to kiss and nip his way along her jaw, down her throat, biting gently where her neck met her shoulders. She bent her legs at the knees, allowing him to settle more comfortable between her thighs as his mouth travelled down towards her chest. His hands weren't idle, either, exploring her skin, fingers skimming gently over sensitive flesh.

Abby shifted restlessly beneath him, running her hands over his back, his sides, his ass. Every part of him she could reach. She let her head fall back, gasping when his hot mouth left her breasts to travel lower. She one hand fall from his body, grasping handfuls of the tangled sheets around her as he left a trail of hot kisses over her stomach, down lower, settling himself between her legs as he lowered his mouth once more.

His tongue drove her crazy, forcing her breath from her lungs in hoarse cries. Her body trembled, a light sheen of sweat coating her skin as he drove her relentlessly higher until she shattered, splintering apart beneath his ministrations, the blood pounding dizzily through her veins.

Gibbs kissed his way back up her body and she opened her eyes to look at him, to prove to herself that yes, it really was her silver haired fox poised above her. She lifted her hands to his face, one travelling around to tangle in his hair at the back of his head, pulling him down for a kiss that was as desperate as it was intense.

She wrapped her legs around him, her eyes locking with his as he pushed into her. He held himself still for a few moments, watching her wordlessly, committing everything about her to memory. Abby gave him an understanding smile; she was trying to do it, too.

When he started to move inside her, she tilted her hips, lifting herself to meet him thrust for thrust. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, a soft moan escaping her. He let his head drop to her shoulder, his lips traversing from her shoulder up along her throat to her lips, his mouth moving against hers, demanding everything she had to give.

His hips jerked against hers, her name torn from his lips in a low growl that he muffled against her damp skin. He moved a hand between them, stroking her insistently, dragging her over the edge with him.

She was still trembling every now and then when he rolled off her and drew her against him, his arms tightening around her as she curled into him, her head resting against his chest as strands of black hair clung to her face. After another few moments, she pushed herself up with a smile that was almost shy but most definitely content and gazed at him with the open affection he'd become used to seeing in her green eyes.

"I really will try not to fall asleep on you again," she murmured quietly.

"I don't mind." He reached a hand up to her cheek, brushing away the tendrils of hair that clung to her face. His fingers lingered and Abby leaned into his touch, her eyes almost closing. "Really."

"I suppose it'll give you an excuse to head down to the basement," she teased lightly, studying him through her eyelashes. "Bet you're just itching to get started on whatever new project you've got in mind."

"I'm not going anywhere. Not while you're here." The honesty in his voice both surprised and touched her.

Abby moved forward, closer. Her lips were just brushing his when a muffled noise from the direction of the door broke the comfortable silence. She held herself still, green eyes ruefully meeting blue as a second sound joined the first.

"Must've caught a case," she sighed softly, drawing back from him.

"Sounds like it." Gibbs' expression showed his frustration as he slipped out from under the sheets, grabbing first his cell phone and then hers. He joined her on the bed, handing hers over as the ringing stopped before glancing at the display, a frown on his face as he pressed redial. "This better be good, DiNozzo."

"Dead Naval Lieutenant," Anthony DiNozzo answered immediately. "McGee and Ziva are on their way here. I was about to call Ducky and I can't get hold of Abby..."

"I'll call Abby," Gibbs said with a sigh, glancing apologetically at the woman already slipping from the bed to gather her clothes. "We'll talk later about the meaning of downtime, DiNozzo."

"Yes, Boss. I..."

He hung up on his senior agent, watching Abby get dressed. After a few moments, she seemed to notice that she was the only one moving and looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. Staying silent, Gibbs held out his hand for her, pleased when she crossed the room to take it and let him pull her against him.

"Tony'll start asking questions if you're not there in twenty minutes," Abby reminded him with a smile, her arms automatically lifting to wrap around his neck.

"He won't if he knows what's good for him." Gibbs pressed one hand against her clothed back and tangled the other in her hair, drawing her down so he could kiss her. "This isn't over, Abby."

Her kiss tasted a little desperate, her body pressed against his. "Of course it isn't." Her smile was there but didn't meet her eyes when she pulled back. "We've still got..." She glanced at the clock on his bedside table, brow furrowing as she tried to work it out. "Just over eighteen hours." Another kiss, chaste and far to fleeting for Gibbs' liking, and Abby pulled away, smoothing the wrinkles in her clothes with her hands as she stood back from the bed. "I'll fix us some coffee to go. Think we'll be needing it."

Gibbs watched her leave, a heavy sigh escaping him as the sound of her footsteps on the stairs grew fainter.

It wasn't over, he told himself as he slipped from the tangled sheets. It *couldn't* be.

* * *

With a mournful sigh, Abby watched as the clock ticked over from 11.14 to 11.15pm. She took a moment between shutting down her machines to think about what could have been before turning her attention back to closing down the lab for the night.

Déjà vu, she thought to herself, unable to resist glancing over her shoulder at the doorway.

Disappointment filled her when Gibbs didn't appear.

She knew he was probably still in interrogation, trying to get a confession out of the jealous roommate whose fingerprints had been found on the murder weapon – prints Abby herself had found. The roommate, a woman who seemed intent on getting everything the unfortunate Lieutenant had – her career, family and lover all included – was a piece of work. She hadn't confessed yet as she seemed to believe she had nothing to confess to – in her twisted mind, she hadn't done anything wrong.

Knowing that, and knowing there was an insanity plea waiting for them if and when the case made it to court, Abby suspected Gibbs and his agents would be kept busy for most of the night.

She grabbed her coat and her bag, her feet dragging as her body protested at its lack of sleep. Her mind, however, was still far too busy, too caffeinated, and she knew it'd be several hours at least before she was able to sleep without images of the previous night teasing and tormenting her.

If she could ever sleep without remembering, without the heat of his body beside and around hers, without the comforting and familiar scent of him enveloping her senses...

Abby shook her head and sighed heavily, switching off the lights as she made her way out of the lab and towards an apartment that already felt far too empty to be home.

* * *

A long soak in a rose-scented bathtub didn't help. She lay in the warm water, bubbles popping against her skin, imagining his fingers ghosting over her body, imagining his lips blazing a trail from her mouth down her throat, to her breasts, down further...

With a frustrated groan, she pushed herself up and out of the lukewarm water some time later, pulling the nightshirt – a T-shirt she'd swiped from Gibbs house some years before – over her head.

After draining the water from the tub, Abby padded barefoot from the bathroom through to the kitchen, towel-drying her hair on the way as she lost herself in her thoughts.

She didn't notice him until he cleared his throat, and even then she jumped.

"Gibbs." Her eyes fixed on his shadowy form almost instantly, searching him out in the darkened corner of the room where he sat on her sofa. "I... What are you doing here?"

He said nothing as he stood, his expression unreadable in the dim light. Abby tugged at the hem of her – his – t-shirt, feeling strangely exposed considering all they'd done and been through.

"I know we didn't get a chance to... Well... Time ran out, I guess, but... Gibbs?" Her mind went blank and her voice trailed off as he moved to stand in front of her, so close she could feel the warmth of him, feel the movement of his chest as he breathed. "You're making me really, really nerv..."

His mouth on hers silenced her words. His arms slipped around her waist, drawing her closer as he kissed her with just as much hunger and urgency as he had the night before. She found herself clinging to his shoulders, fingers digging in, meeting every thrust of his tongue, sighing into his mouth.

"Twenty-four hours isn't enough," Gibbs murmured against her lips after a long lapse in conversation.

"Twenty-four years wouldn't be," Abby mumbled, her eyes darting up to hers as colour and heat flooded her cheeks as the thought escaped her. She smiled, both relieved and dazed, when a slow grin spread across his face in response.

She didn't have time to savour the expression, though, as his lips soon returned to hers, her body moulding itself against his as they stumbled through her apartment towards her bedroom.

Twenty-four years...

... And counting.

* * *

Finis


End file.
